The Spotted Devil

Mr TSD has been busy with the video camera You Tube video Don't forget to turn up the volume!

Working Springer of course! Em is full on and loves playing with Ziggy but one (well deserved) grumble from him and she immediately submits until he can't resist her adoring eyes and wagging tail - takes about 5 seconds Easy care coat, runs like the wind (all day!), loves to learn and is just a pleasure to snuggle with on the couch. Note: I don't allow dogs on the couch...well I didn't before Miss E

I'm surprised that Steve Austin doesn't think working Springers would make good pets - does he mean a normal family or an abnormal dog sports home? I used to think the amount of time and effort I put into my animals was just what everyone else did but can now accept that I'm....well....different They can certainly be trained to have an off switch in the house - my dogs are mostly wherever I am. Sometimes I crate Zig or put Dizzy away as Emmy can't resist having a wrestle. She is definitely more active than your average puppy. When you see one of these dogs out in public they will always be "on" - that said, she is much more relaxed at a dog trial than Zig and will sleep in her crate quite happily. This morning Emmy slept until 8.00am next to my bed. Up and about - cup of tea and dog cuddles on the deck. 9am - 10am: took them to the park in the car. Some loose lead walking training through the local shops and a free (super fast zoomie) run at the park, interspersed with training...heel position, recalls, fronts, stays. 10am - 11am: dogs entertaining themselves on the deck....wrestling, playing and a bit of attention from the humans. 11am - 1pm: we were out so Emmy was in her crate with 2 stuffed Kongs and a lamb neck 1pm - 2pm: home again so dogs in and out with us 2pm - 4pm: out again so Em back in her crate (very tired girl by this stage) with 2 stuffed kongs 4pm - 5pm: home again and preparing food for dinner so Em slept on the cool slate tiles in the kitchen Right now, she is hanging out with Mr TSD whilst I have a lie down. She will probably perk up when it cools down, around 7pm - I will train her with the rest of her biscuit ration and do some puppy retrieves if she has energy to burn. A big carrot to chomp on to keep her occupied while we have dinner and she will have a snuggle on the couch if it is cool enough. She and Zig will be super enthusiastic to go to bed by 10.30pm.

I won't comment on HA but have grown up with ACDs and, to the untrained eye, they do look like they bite "out of nowhere". They can be quiet and thoughtful. They can be very protective of their humans and their property - we used to say "they'll let you IN the gate but they sure as hell won't let you OUT!" I'd be seeing a professional quick smart.

Oh and Em is too busy launching herself off anything and everything to be super clingy Seriously scares the heck out of me the way she flies through the air...am thinking of buying her a cape I watched the YouTube video of the Springer doing agility - not sure if it was the training (???) but Em seems to learn with more self control...I don't know any other way to describe it. You can see her nutting it out, throws herself into it trying to get it right and then doing it right every single time unless you up the criteria too quickly. ETA: Huski, she is soft but she has real confidence in me and so her character shines through. I try very hard to be consistent and Zig has taught me not to practice on my dog but to nut it out before I start training.

I'm calling on Mr TSD for a second opinion and he agrees that, whilst Emmy is certainly very (her) people focussed, she's not clingy as such. But I do work on building her confidence and she always looks to me if she is unsure or overwhelmed. I'd have 10 of the little rascals She is very sweet and gentle and excellent at picking up cues - plays rough with Ziggy and Dizzy but leaves the Burmese girls alone. She loves food, praise, pats and toys - depends what I'm training and her response. Mr TSD says she makes a lovely pet but only because I train her every day and she has a surprising amount of exercise (voluntarily) for such a young dog. She wants to play with Zig all day so I crate her when we are out and sometimes crate Zig when we are home. She doesn't nap much lol!!! Funny what we train, though - Zig couldn't give a rats @r$e about me for about 18 months but now he is my shadow.

So 'fess up! Who else has been perusing this thread for puppy ideas? P.S. Huski, will write more when I am in front of the computer and keyboard

I handled a TT many moons ago in agility and by Dog you've described him to a tee Lovely dog and full of spunk and attitude.

Just quickly as I'm on my phone... A working line ESS is so different from the show lines it's like a different breed! They are highly motivated dogs with much less feathering and require very little grooming. I've heard them compared to a Welsh Springer but I think they are lighter and more agile and SO FAST They are also smaller than a show line ESS. Can be quite shy with unfamiliar people and dogs - but this is part of their charm as they just block out everything to focus, focus, focus! They are soft dogs to train, compared to other retrieving breeds, but extremely courageous when covering ground. Just bursting to train, which is a shock after a Dally It won't be Em's fault if she doesn't find obedience and agility relatively easy but retrieving will be a wonderful challenge for us both. They are not very common so you would need to do your homework pretty early on. Come in liver or black and white. The Dally is definitely a challenge - Zig is brilliant now although he was very slow to mature. I'd be looking for the rat bag in the litter as long as you know how to harness the "naughty" lol! Don't even bother raising your voice or they will give you the doggy equivalent of the finger. They get bored extremely quickly - don't practice on them! Get it right on your own and then add the dog. They are not an easy dog but really worth the effort when they get it together. And they keep you honest :D Talk about two diametrically opposed breeds in one house! ETA: Steve Austin has Em's brother and often gets pups from my breeder. They are incredibly active puppies - my friends who breed working line Labs and GSPs can't get over how full on they are That said, she is a glorious pet as long as she has lots of mental stimulation and physical activity. Very snuggly and you have to push through the puppy screaming at being left in her crate but at 5 months she is snoring in her crate as I type and has fitted in beautifully. Screamed blue murder when she first saw Zig but now they are the best of friends.

I think I'm almost at the point where choice of breeder would probably be as influential on selecting a breed as the dogs themselves. The right breeder makes such a difference. If I was tossing up between a few breeds, my guess is that the right breeder would be a deciding factor. Yes, that's another reason I have a Dally and a working Springer!

In my house the cats definitely have right of way BUT it is also important that the cats have boundaries too. One of my Burmese girls rules the house with an iron paw - she is absolutely allowed to hiss or smack a nose when the dogs are annoying her but I will verbally warn her if she is doing it just for kicks. You need to be able to read your cat very well to make the decision. The younger Burmese girl is very sweet and gentle and I have had to heap praise on her for telling off the pup or our newest feline addition - it gives her more confidence and she is much more relaxed. The youngest cat, Dizzy, also needs to be pulled into line as his playing with pup can get too rough. At the same time, pup is learning which cats want to interact with her and when she needs to walk away - she gets food and praise for doing so and is quite nonchalant around the Burmese girls now.

Thanks corvus Hope your research is going well! I've volunteered in animal shelters for some years (mainly with cats) and you do learn to let some of it wash over you. I'm probably quite fortunate at the moment in that the method of data collection means I'm recording a lot of data in a very short time so I don't often have the opportunity to be conscious of individual dogs.

No idea! I just wait until the amended pedigree is returned to me

Just thought of something else....we are on quite a steep block so our deck is also our carport and we have stairs leading up to the front door. One of the best things I had done was to install a small shed and heaps of cupboards under the house. It takes me about 5 minutes to load the car for a dog trial - gazebo and soft crate from the shed and everything else I need from one of the cupboards. Brilliant

I heard on the radio earlier that, whilst everything is fine for now, they will probably be requiring more foster carers once lost animals start being handed in.

Goodness, PAX, that could have been me who wrote that. One of the reasons I chose a Dally is that I wanted something really different so I wouldn't fall in the trap of comparing another dog with my red ACD girl.

Oh, and I love having a big, covered deck and verandah so dogs can get towel dried before they launch themselves inside!

Things that make our current home better than our previous house are the ability to shut the bedroom/study/bathroom/laundry off from the main living area - we also have a baby gate on that hallway door to keep pup confined where we can keep an eye on her plus it allows the cats some peace and quiet. Jumping the baby gate is their new favourite game Hard floors are also wonderful - a combination of timber floors and slate - accidents are easy to clean up and it only takes a daily sweep with the hard floor mop to pick up all the hair. A difficult compromise is the windows/doors to the north which are glass to the floor - I wouldn't have it any other way for the gorgeous view but it does mean an awful lot of dog snot to be cleaned off regularly! Clean lines and no clutter make dusting a lot easier too. "Dizzy Proof" (the foster failure kitten) cupboard doors will be a priority when we get around to fixing up the kitchen....currently using child locks

MrsD, I would imagine donations to DQ would go to DQ members regardless of breeds owned????

I like a challenge.....so I got a Spotty Dog for obedience and a field dog for retrieving

Thanks for taking the time to listen shel I am learning SO much but, as you can imagine, I've learnt a heck of a lot just from the reading, preparation and planning stages. The shelter staff have been truly fabulous and very generous with their already stretched time. Hopefully this particular study is just the beginning!

Yep, I'd like to see that Happens in most other forms of competition involving animals. I'd love to see it in the dog performance sports. I'd add nerve blockers and steroids to the list too. I must be living under a rock :D Do you think that happens much???

I was recently interviewed by The University of Melbourne's "Up Close" series to talk about my PhD research with dogs in animal shelters. The interview has just been published here and there will be a few more photos and links to follow - you can listen online or download it as a podcast. One of my colleagues also talks about her PhD research involving the welfare of commercial laying hens. It's 30 minutes of your life that you'll never get back :D but I thought some may be interested.

Mr TSD loves both the dogs and the cats He is really good with them all and they do choose to spend quality time with him, but not exclusively. I do all the training (and try to explain what I'm doing so the dogs have basic obedience with him) and make sure they are exercised, fed, wormed, vaccinated etc. He is happy to feed/walk the dogs if he knows I can't (rarely) but does feed the cats most days (depends on who is awake/home for breakfast/dinner/supper). He prefers not to let the dogs off lead as he's terrified of something bad happening to them. I don't expect him to come to obedience/agility trials at all....it's actually easier having him home holding the fort and preparing dinner! I think if it hadn't been for me, he wouldn't have had cats or dogs but only because he travels a fair bit for work.

Once you teach the 'give' command (I swap for food initially) you can really ramp it up - I play pretty hard with Em...lots of growling from both of us but giving the toy to me is now part of the game because as soon as she is calm I start the game again. I also play games with her (without toys) - lots of growling and excitement but I can ask for 'sit' in the middle of it - as soon as she is in a controlled sit I start the game again. Great for teaching self-control and that stopping in the middle of something exciting doesn't always mean the game is ending.